Friday, November 03, 2006

Holding On

Hi everyone,

As you probably know by now, Kimberly is away this week at a creativity and leadership retreat, and members of the HTC community are blogging in her stead.

As I thought about what I might like to share, I found myself thinking about a poem that I first encountered on September 12, 2001. Bill Moyers shared it during a broadcast on PBS in which he and others grappled with what had happened to our country the day before. I was struck by how comforting it was, and by how much it rang true - true to the emotions I was feeling at the time. I have since found solace in it whenever I'm going through a difficult time, and share it here in case it can bring some comfort to you.

I hesitated to post the poem here, because its message, of holding on, seems on the surface to be counter to the yogic principle of letting go; but I think it's ultimately about centeredness - finding your core no matter how chaotic things become. And that's a message I hope will resonate with many of you.

We pulled each other closer in the turn.Around a center that we could not see.This holding on was what I had to learn.The sun can hold the planets, earth, the moon.But we had to create our gravity.By always pulling closer in the turn.Each revolution caused my head to whirl.So dizzy I wanted to break free.But holding on was what I had to learn.I fixed my eyes on something out there firm.And then our orbit steadied so that we could pull each other closer in the turn.And if our feet should briefly leave the earth, no matter, earth was made for us to leave.And arms for pulling closer in the turn.This holding on is what we have to learn.